Citizenship and enterprise
Enterprise in education has strong links with citizenship. Both involve close partnerships between schools, parents and the wider community. Both require the active involvement of children and young people in decisions affecting their education. Both aim to develop positive, ‘can do’ attitudes within a framework of mutual respect and responsibility.
Enterprise experiences with social goals, where outcomes not only benefit others but also encourage a sense of responsibility to the community and society as a whole, help children and young people to understand the connections between enterprise and active, responsible citizenship.
Links between enterprise and citizenship are well established in many early years contexts. Often it is the process of active involvement and decision making alongside a high level of responsibility which offer opportunities for links with citizenship. Projects might include:
- older children producing induction DVDs for children starting in P1
- children raising funds to purchase resources that they have selected themselves, for example for outdoor play equipment
- fundraising for charities, with children involved in the planning of all activities and making an informed choice to select the charity for donations
- digital cameras being used by nursery children to photograph each other and to select, manipulate and produce photographs for purchase by families rather than using a commercial photographer
- projects linking citizenship, enterprise and global citizenship by, for example, selling fair trade goods such as bananas.
Use our audit materials to reflect on the work you are already involved in and to plan areas for development.
Find out more
To find out more about fair trade, visit our fair trade pages.
Go to our Enterprise in Education area for enterprise news, resources and CPD opportunities.
Sharing practice
Read about Whitfield Primary School's award-winning enterprise project, and other examples of early years enterprise projects on our Enterprise in Education website.